Ummm

You are right. Found it under "About the Clan". Teach me to go on line with not so bright idea after a night out. Sorry :oops: :oops: !!!!!!!!!

Could do with being a bit easier to find on the Connacht Rugby site, maybe

I don't have a season ticket, but I'm a member of the Clan. It is/was 20 euro.

Guys

Every idea raised here has some element of merit in it and everything should be considered.

For greater exposure could we consider having the link to the membership of the Supporters Club directly on the Connacht Rugby site or Face book page rather than having to navigate the Clan site.

Would be interesting to compare the Facebook hits against the Connacht rugby website hits to see the difference in activity.

rossie wrote: and they do follow the rossies, some all year round and the rest in the summer!

Don't worry, I know it might have sounded like I might have been attacking them for maybe choosing to travel to follow their county which they would have always followed religiously and not prioritising the trip to Galway to support a rugby team that they might not feel associated with or interested in as of yet. Nobody can tell somebody who they should support and by what means they should support them. Was just interested thats all.

and they do follow the rossies, some all year round and the rest in the summer!

Funk it, i agree that the season ticket for renewals @ 185 euro is great value. even the 200 euro for early bird is v good value but ive been to sportsground and experienced it for myself. Getting others in from distance is the problem and if connacht are to maximise their potential they will have to expand their support base beyond galway city and its hinterland. The fact that they have 22000 facebook likes and 3200 season ticket holders highlights that potential.

Munster had and still have a similar problem and they have used the dual venue as a bridge to overcome that.A full member of MRSC is guarenteed a Heineken cup ticket for every game.There are currently 6500 full members and another 6000+ associate members. However to be a full member you must purchase a season ticket and there are three venue types available, Thomond, musgrave and combined. Many supporters from the south of the province purchase a season ticket for the 4 games in Musgrave and the three home hec pool games.their full membership entitles them to 1st refusal on all other games in thomond. you are given a 15 to 20% discount on the season tickets depending on payment options taken. this way they keep their fans from all the province and outside happy.

im not suggesting connacht adapt the dual venue policy althugh id be delightrd if they did, but i think some inventive packages and serious marketing is required to spread the gospel around the province.ive merely suggested 1 way of doing that. imagine a season ticket like i described priced at 150 euro which entitled admission to the 6 premium games and 2 others of your choice.imo thats a sellable product.

I remember I think it was last year that the board were talking about playing Connacht games in different counties in Connacht. I can't see that happening now (we seem to have deserted Dubarry Park) but maybe for the Connacht A games they'll do it? Munster A have moved around and played in different counties for the B&I Cup. Maybe advertise these games get people going to them and start pushing the brand. If people go to one game they'll always be a small amount who enjoy it so much they will go again and again. We should have at those games an information booth or something of that ilk in which we hand out info and try and entice people to come to the senior games. You'll always pick up a few people.

Creedence wrote: Good god man, scans are from Milltown! How could you possibly mix the two up

My bad (how embarassing :oops: ), promise it won't happen again...

rossie wrote: as a person who lives over an hour from the ground but within the province i think that i can shed some light on this issue.
most people i know here in south roscommon have only a passing interest in rugby and support Roscommon in gaelic and one of the big premiership teams. they have very little interest in the Pro12 save for the interpros but take an interest in the Hec.Most still support munster but took an interest in connachts games this season.There are regularly large crowds in our local for Munster and leinsters hec games and this year connachts.
However none are interested in travelling down to galway for the games. To my knowledge this is echoed throughout the villages of south roscommon and the town. In addition the local media, print and radio, carry very little if any coverage of connacht rugby, amatuer or pro which doesnt help.

I think a distance Season ticket for the 3 inter pros and three euro games should be launched after regular sales close. This should be attractively priced and vigourously marketed throughout the province. This should be on the credit card style like full season ticket holders and the purchaser should have an option of topping this up for each additional game at a discounted price of say 15 euro should he wish to attend.the branch could put a distance limit on it of say 40/50km from city to qualify for this.Free buses etc will help but people like value these days and its difficult to convince someone that there is value in a 200 euro st if hes only going to attend 5 or 6 games.

Good post and the interpro ticket sounds like a great idea to me. It wouldn't cannibalise the existing segments because you'd effectively be tragetting people who would not otherwise come.

Funk It wrote:

Creedence wrote: More likely to find someone from Lancashire at a Connacht game than someone from Dunmore supporting the Galway hurlers for example.

Although not technically from Lancashire, I bet im not the only one over here with a Connacht season ticket, as for the Dunmore crowd, can anyone explain are they scans or shafts? On a more serious note, great work so far, but all about raising the bar for next season. Connacht rugby has come a long way since I started going to games over a decade ago, but the recent progress has been magnificent. The biggest positive in my eyes was the early uptake of renewals prior to getting HC qualification for next year, really promising stuff for the foundations of this club. Hate to put this spin on it, but this early uptake of season tickets also follows a season where we recorded our longest losing streak, would be amazing what the ticket sales could be following a relatively successful season.

EDIT: Ok must add, we had a good start and are having a good end to the season, and its clear that we deserved a lot more from the HC games and even picked us a monumental win against Quins. Not saying this year was a disaster, ahh im sure you know what I mean, Leinster and Munster built their fan base from building their success first.

Good god man, scans are from Milltown! How could you possibly mix the two up

Agree with a lot of you post- there seems to be a real appetite out there to buy into what Connacht have been selling and it is great to see that it isn,t totally reliant on wins on the field. I go to as many of the Galway hurling games as I can and although the numbers turning up to see both are about the same, that's where the comparison ends. The atmosphere at the hurling games can be poisonous, with a large segment of the 'support' turning on their own, or more accurately, some poor player who has the temerity to be from a different parish. There is a semi-permanent sense of betrayal, that the hurlers or management have let the supporters down. In contrast with that, one of my best memories from this season was the patience and support afforded to the team, particularly the kickers, when we were on that epic long losing streak. There was the odd groan, but that was about it. It remained an enjoyable experience just being in the Sportsground, and that IMO is what is behind the quick season ticket renewals.

I think the munster /leinster thing is a contributary factor too. Munster built the red army on the back of what was then considered success, then leinster had an easy job growing their fan base given their population and a desire to have a bit of what the munster fans were having, and I think there is a bit of that here too and there is an appetite to have something similar to belong to. However Galway city in particular always seems to me to be comfortable in its own skin, so I hope Connacht will continue to develop our own identity as the mad place with the dog track and the horizontal rain where nobody comes confident getting a win. Just need to perfect the third one! The pre match razmatazz for the Toulouse game had an unmistakable homegrown west of Ireland signature which was great to see too.

*stops stroking chin and talking sh...*

Personally, I think anything a couple of hundred either side of 4000 season tickets would be fantastic.

rossie wrote: The problem with Funk its analogy of my suggestion is the market im suggesting targetting have no interest in travelling to Galway and burning expensive diesel to see Treviso or the dragons etc. Many arent even currenty travelling to see Munster, Leinster atm. However if you got them in you might keep them coming and they would in turn buy programs, food, beer, jerseys etc when there. Connacht need to get the supporters into the sportsground and hopefully the atmosphere, the teams performances and above all results will keep them coming.

Will agree with you on the highlighted points alright. Just don't know how they could roll out a program like that. Being from the city, travelling to games was never a problem for myself so although I can understand it, I can't empathize with it, although never minded heading for Athlone for games years back, the Pontypridd game stands out for some reason.

My point was, that even if they wouldn't burn expensive diesel to watch Treviso or Dragons or whoever, the other games where burning expensive diesel would be preferable would still mean that there is value in a season ticket. Just wondering, would the same folk travel the length and breath of the country to watch Donnie Shine and co?

I would love Connacht to open out to the wider regions of the provience, can't say that I have the answer myself, but pricing tickets on mileage just seems like a messy situation. I suppose a deal with a bus company to have supporter bus routes with set pick up areas (e.g. 1 from Sligo catering for mid/east Mayo pickups, 1 from west Galway/Mayo, 1 from Leitrim going through Roscommon, and another feeding Athenry and Oranmore) could allow supporters easier travel, and could enjoy their pints at the game. Think I read that they attempted something similar either this season or last season.

im not saying sell all the tickets off in the summer. obviously u would have to limit the number of these tickets available. For example if connacht sell 4000 Standard season tickets they could target 1000 of these type season ticket sales to reach 5000. Athlone and South roscommon up to Roscommon town is a great example of an area that can be targetted for growth as while its 50 miles away yoy are on the motorway in a max of 15 min.

The problem with Funk its analogy of my suggestion is the market im suggesting targetting have no interest in travelling to Galway and burning expensive diesel to see Treviso or the dragons etc. Many arent even currenty travelling to see Munster, Leinster atm. However if you got them in you might keep them coming and they would in turn buy programs, food, beer, jerseys etc when there. Connacht need to get the supporters into the sportsground and hopefully the atmosphere, the teams performances and above all results will keep them coming.

The only top level rugby available in this area is the u20s internationals and many people from this area attend and enjoy them.
On the subject of potential revenue loss the branch are taking a huge loss of revenue on the season ticket price(35% to 40% discount) but recognise the value of having a large crowd and atmosphere.This suggestion is just an extension of that for the same reason.

rossie wrote:
I think a distance Season ticket for the 3 inter pros and three euro games should be launched after regular sales close. This should be attractively priced and vigourously marketed throughout the province. This should be on the credit card style like full season ticket holders and the purchaser should have an option of topping this up for each additional game at a discounted price of say 15 euro should he wish to attend.the branch could put a distance limit on it of say 40/50km from city to qualify for this.Free buses etc will help but people like value these days and its difficult to convince someone that there is value in a 200 euro st if hes only going to attend 5 or 6 games.

That could lead to a massive loss in revenue if you pick those specific games.

rossie wrote: I think a distance Season ticket for the 3 inter pros and three euro games should be launched after regular sales close. This should be attractively priced and vigourously marketed throughout the province. This should be on the credit card style like full season ticket holders and the purchaser should have an option of topping this up for each additional game at a discounted price of say 15 euro should he wish to attend.the branch could put a distance limit on it of say 40/50km from city to qualify for this.Free buses etc will help but people like value these days and its difficult to convince someone that there is value in a 200 euro st if hes only going to attend 5 or 6 games.

Let me get this, lets talk in terms of gym membership (because, why not), and as good business practice gyms offer discounted off-peak memberships (rugby translation: Dragons at home on a miserable friday night, free tickets with ST), they would have annual memberships (season tickets) as well at a higher price. Now gyms would normally be fairly busy during peak times (Heineken Cup/Interpros), so I just don't get why you would want these discounted. Being fair, the season tickets price still offers good value in my opinion, if you only hit the majority of the HC games and interpros (gym translation: would be pretty damn annoyed if I only bothered going to the gym 6 times on an annual membership).

Hope that hasn't thrown everyone off track, just made sense in my mixed up head.

as a person who lives over an hour from the ground but within the province i think that i can shed some light on this issue.
most people i know here in south roscommon have only a passing interest in rugby and support Roscommon in gaelic and one of the big premiership teams. they have very little interest in the Pro12 save for the interpros but take an interest in the Hec.Most still support munster but took an interest in connachts games this season.There are regularly large crowds in our local for Munster and leinsters hec games and this year connachts.
However none are interested in travelling down to galway for the games. To my knowledge this is echoed throughout the villages of south roscommon and the town. In addition the local media, print and radio, carry very little if any coverage of connacht rugby, amatuer or pro which doesnt help.

I think a distance Season ticket for the 3 inter pros and three euro games should be launched after regular sales close. This should be attractively priced and vigourously marketed throughout the province. This should be on the credit card style like full season ticket holders and the purchaser should have an option of topping this up for each additional game at a discounted price of say 15 euro should he wish to attend.the branch could put a distance limit on it of say 40/50km from city to qualify for this.Free buses etc will help but people like value these days and its difficult to convince someone that there is value in a 200 euro st if hes only going to attend 5 or 6 games.

Creedence wrote: More likely to find someone from Lancashire at a Connacht game than someone from Dunmore supporting the Galway hurlers for example.

Although not technically from Lancashire, I bet im not the only one over here with a Connacht season ticket, as for the Dunmore crowd, can anyone explain are they scans or shafts? On a more serious note, great work so far, but all about raising the bar for next season. Connacht rugby has come a long way since I started going to games over a decade ago, but the recent progress has been magnificent. The biggest positive in my eyes was the early uptake of renewals prior to getting HC qualification for next year, really promising stuff for the foundations of this club. Hate to put this spin on it, but this early uptake of season tickets also follows a season where we recorded our longest losing streak, would be amazing what the ticket sales could be following a relatively successful season.

EDIT: Ok must add, we had a good start and are having a good end to the season, and its clear that we deserved a lot more from the HC games and even picked us a monumental win against Quins. Not saying this year was a disaster, ahh im sure you know what I mean, Leinster and Munster built their fan base from building their success first.